If There Is No Wuhan Virus
This is my imagination of the life without Wuhan and Wuhan Virus.
March 25–27 2020 Hawaii, USA
I took my flight to Hawaii from Vancouver on the afternoon of 25 and arrived at the airport at 9 p.m. local time. All I brought were only a back bag and a small suitcase. My mood was excited and nervous cause there were two persons waiting for me. My friend Chiew-Ping, a nice Malaysian lecturer known on an academic website. She was gonna stay in Hawaii to present her paper and conduct a fieldwork. The other person would be my little bear, a sweet, talented, rich, hardworking, cute, and good-looking American musician. We would spend two days together in Hawaii before he was on a cruise.
March 27 was the date that I would share my master thesis in a top conference even though little bear did not have a chance to listen. I could get some inspirations from other scholars and continue to work on the thesis at home. Not surprisingly, as planned, I tried to contact several publishers at hand to talk about the possibility of thesis publication. Therefore, during the whole Summer in Victoria, I will write my thesis and work as a customer service representative in a gift shop where I got a full-time co-op job offer in early March. On July 4, the Independence Day of America and romantic Saturday, I will fly to Las Vegas to celebrate with my little bear.
September 1–31 December 2020 Victoria, Canada
I successfully finished the first work term and keep revising my resume and cover letter, so I spent less time and energy to get the second co-op job offer. Working experience in Canada is the foremost asset to get a job here. Since I already had the formal job experience outside the campus, my confidence was built and my attitude turned optimistic. Everything in Victoria becomes adorable. If it goes well, I can graduate with the second master’s degree and move to bigger city in early 2021.
I still remember when I back to a city with metro, I can not help turning around on the street. At that moment, the whole world is mine and it is my time to explore and make a difference.
July 2009 Guangzhou/Shenzhen, China
I used my Daddy’s desktop computer to apply for colleges online. I could say that I did everything I could to prepare for the national exam that determined every Chinese high school student’s fate. The luckiest thing is I have a great father who got rid of the recycle of farming and rooted in Guangzhou or Shenzhen with his talents and long-term endeavor. He had two chances to stay in Guangzhou or Shenzhen: accepted the offer of the program of journalism of Ji Nan University (one of the top news schools of China)or accepted the job offer of a local newspaper of Shenzhen. Since I grew up in a big city, I never felt thirsty in food, information, resources, and entertainment. Such horizon let me know more about civilizations and build confidence.
1959-1961 Hong Kong
During the Great Chinese Famine, my grandpa fled from hometown to Hong Kong to seek food. I don’t know how hard to him at that time and he never talked about the suffering in front of me. I merely know a large amount of people died on the way while my grandpa not only survived but also found enough food and money for the family. Since my grandpa stayed in Hong Kong, I had the chance to finish the bachelor’s degree there and became a Hongkonger.
The above alternative history probably happens on me if I got blessed. However, my current situation is I have not started the first work term due to the cancellation of job offer. I am on the way to seek jobs during the hard time. I have been staying in the retired town of Canada for almost two years and the border was closed this month. The worse problem is I have no idea when I can graduate.
As for my father, he did not stay in Guangzhou or Shenzhen cause he gave up the offers. His decision made me spent the darkest days of my life in Wuhan where I lacked the opportunity to receive good education. Moreover, I still wear a brace which was caused by an accident at the primary school in Zhaoqing.
As for my grandpa, he returned to hometown after the famine got better and he did not tell me the history before he passed away.
Sometimes I think father and grandpa owe me and I have to pay the infinite debts left by them. All I can do right now is to keep striving to work hard and challenge my limitation. I acknowledge how hard and lonely it will be but I am the chosen kid of my family to rewrite the fate.
